Published May 11, 2023, 10:40 a.m. by Liam Bradley
Cricket has been embroiled in a major corruption scandal for years now, with many high-profile players being caught up in the scandal. The scandal has led to the downfall of many high-profile cricket figures, and has even resulted in the sport being banned in several countries.
The scandal began to take shape back in 2015, when several cricket players were caught taking bribes in order to fix matches. This led to the arrest of several high-profile figures, including former captain of the England cricket team, Andrew Strauss. Strauss was later released on bail, but was eventually convicted of perjury and conspiracy to cheat and was sentenced to two years in prison.
Since then, the scandal has continued to unfold, with more and more players being caught up in the scandal. In 2018, several players were arrested in connection with the scandal, including former captain of the Sri Lanka cricket team, Mahela Jayawardene. Jayawardene was later released on bail, but was later charged with conspiracy to cheat and corruption.
The scandal has had a major impact on cricket, with the sport being banned in several countries. In England, the sport was banned for a period of five years following the scandal, while in India, the sport is currently banned following the scandal involving the IPL team, the Chennai Super Kings.
The scandal has also had a major impact on the sport of cricket, with many players being forced to retire due to the scandal. In England, several high-profile players have retired due to the scandal, including Strauss and former captain of the England cricket team, Michael Vaughan. Vaughan has said that the scandal has taken a heavy toll on him, and has even said that he would have never imagined that he would be involved in a corruption scandal when he started playing cricket.
The scandal has had a major impact on the sport of cricket, with many players being forced to retire due to the scandal. In England, several high-profile players have retired due to the scandal, including Strauss and former captain of the England cricket team, Michael Vaughan. Vaughan has said that the scandal has taken a heavy toll on him, and has even said that he would have never imagined that he would be involved in a corruption scandal when he started playing cricket.
Overall, the cricket corruption scandal is one of the biggest scandals in sport and has had a major impact on the sport. The scandal has forced many high-profile players to retire, and has even led to the sport being banned in several countries.
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foreign
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you can't talk about Cricket without
thinking about the values that were
behind it
the whole idea of fair play you walked
if you nicked it to the heat keeper you
you didn't claim a catch that was on the
half volley
all these things were part of what we
were trying to say to the world about
the way we should treat one another
[Music]
the spirit of cricket I mean it's it's
Integrity I think it's honesty it is its
own code its own moral code and it
served the game pretty well for 130 140
years
I remember Kofi Annan at the United
Nations in New York once making the
comment about something that had taken
place in the world and said that's not
cricket
has never played a game of Cricket in
his life but he knows what Cricket
stands for and if someone at the United
Nation the head of United Nations could
use that term it means that Cricket
stands for something and the game should
never be allowed to die
how could cricket ever die
it's grown from the Green Fields of
England to become the second most
popular sport in the world played and
watched by a billion people
my name is Sam Collins
this is my friend Jared Kimber
[Music]
we're too among those billion Cricket
fans from different backgrounds and
different sides of the earth we've been
mad about Cricket our whole lives and
eventually it brought us together
[Music]
now we get paid to travel the world and
watch it as journalists
in 2011 we set out to make a film about
the game we love and what future it had
in the modern world
we couldn't have known then that we
would stumble across one of the biggest
scandals in sport
or what we would learn about the men who
were supposed to be the Guardians of the
game
Cricket is going through a turmoil
it is going to destroy the game
and all forms of the games
family have been involved in playing
cricket and
administering cricket
forever
we have no interest to hurt Cricket in
any way that is
incorrect or that in the end we would
stand by helpless as 140 years of
History was buried in the urban desert
of Dubai
this is our story
it's a story about people about greed
about power about the endless pursuit of
more and the precious things that are
lost along the way
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foreign
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it all began when I was trying to make a
career as a cricket journalist and I met
Jared an Australian blogger who had come
to London to shake up the establishment
quickly realizing we had more chance
together than alone we started making
web videos for Cricket freaks we named
ourselves after a famous drunk cricketer
and our mascot hansi bought a notorious
match fixer the results were often
terrified
[Applause]
we had two things in common our sense of
humor would you mind if I asked what
color your trousers were well I know
what color my trousers are and a
lifelong love of the oldest form of
cricket test Chris
foreign
[Music]
if you ask me what made test Cricket
unique I'd say it as the one sport that
is not just about winning it's about
what you learn over those five long days
it's called test cricket and that's what
it is it's a test
it's a test of your skill it's a test of
your courage and it's a test of your
intelligence
certainly there's a batsman as far as I
was concerned that test match was
perfectly known it was a test
about the contest Nation against nation
that against bull it's like gunfighter
torque coral and it's a nasty game it
was a real baddie
and he's coming after you the opening
batteries coming after you do you want
to be here
because he's gonna hurt you
about the way different people play it
test Cricket allows people to be big and
small and fat thin ugly and beautiful
slow and fast
and really know how the sport does that
that's a freak of a game
that's what makes it so special
about how it brings so many different
people together
of course the gentleman's game has never
been perfect but it's our imperfect
but however great we thought test
cricket was we were constantly being
told that there was no place in the
modern world for a game that was a
legacy of imperialism and lasted five
days
let's go what are you packing for
Australia India the sound and the other
woman it's Sam The Other Woman exactly
seeing as we were Cricket journalists we
thought we should try and answer the
game's biggest question
was test Cricket really dying
I'll only be away for a few weeks this
time
[Music]
the first stop on our journey was
Jared's hometown of Melbourne
we had a crew and a camera but no script
and no idea what we were looking for
so we picked up the phone to a
cricketing friend of ours someone whose
Journey would mirror our own over those
next few years basically it's only that
the whole film basically hinges on you
it really does tell him he's our human
angel
[Music]
Ed Cohen had just been picked to make
his test debut for Australia and he
wasn't your ordinary Sportsman if I had
to cook you a meal to knock your socks
off I'd probably do salmon fennel and
Dill on Avocado mango salsa maybe I
think you'd enjoy
Ed and Jared had met online a few years
earlier when he was just another young
cricketer trying to make his name now
somehow we'd persuaded Ed to let us
follow him through the biggest moment of
his career boys
we hope that his experiences would show
us what test cricket was really all
about
Eva was passionate about being the best
he always could at everything I came to
the Nets three days a week and it always
before a game he always wanted a quick
hit which meant about you know 400 balls
[Music]
[Laughter]
EDS was the sort of story that made so
many people love sport
for years he struggled with injury and
then moved his family across Australia
to Tasmania for a fresh start
[Music]
foreign
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[Applause]
now at 29 he was finally making a name
for himself
it feels as though all the little
moments
feel like they've been justified in a
way
to ruin your arts career to move to an
isolated island off the South Australia
just so I could play cricket yeah that's
a big move so in a sense it feels as
though that's been Justified I guess
foreign
what we were watching was just the
culmination of a lifetime dedicated to
one cause
playing test Cricket for Australia
test Cricket for me it is the game
it's the only Cricket how I judge
creepers by
to all of a sudden be in that cauldron I
don't know how I'll handle it until the
occasion I guess boxing that test mate
when boxing day arrived 80 000 fans
descended on the Melbourne cricket
ground for the biggest day in the
cricketing calendar
Ed had entered A Whole New World
walking over here I was really quite
nervous this morning you know obviously
when I saw him get hand with his baggy
green it was very emotional moment
this is Ed's dream come true like out
there today
his head would be spinning this is you
know he's one of his stream ever since
the day he was born I think
Cricket in Australia and our Summer's a
big deal test Cricket Bay rank Up's a
big deal it was a symbol for kids to
dream about and for people to Aspire to
and for people to admire
foreign
[Applause]
[Music]
boxing day and just think about it cam
what's he going through 29 years of age
he's got a technique for test Cricket
I'm really looking forward to this the
beautiful thing about Cricket is you're
in control of Your Action so you become
very routine focused
so a lot of the times you don't notice
the crowd it's it's a blur you can't see
anyone in the crowd you can hear them
but it's sort of that white noise
when you're at the Striker's end and you
see the bowler running in
it's not just physical it's how you
breathe and the number of breaths and
the type of breaths and it almost
becomes this sort of meditative state
that you can get yourself into when
you're batting
you know 80 000 people are coming to
watch you play cricket and you're just
in your own little world enjoying your
own private test match
foreign
[Music]
on strike
[Applause]
now those 80 000 people in the Melbourne
cricket ground and millions more at home
on television waited to see if Ed Cowan
was up to the challenge but he does tend
to leave the ball a lot he makes Ballers
ball at him
he's away
[Applause]
thank you
[Music]
it probably wasn't until just before
lunch that was a moment I sort of took
stock and looked around thought oh my
God there's some people here what are
they doing just had a moment to myself
of this is awesome having a great time
just just keep going mate you're doing
just fine
it's done a very good job today in the
attack swinging through the new ball now
a chance of making a 50 on day boom
that's it
it's the start of taking a big
opportunity red count 50 on boxing day I
had no idea where where Jenny or any of
my family were
at that moment
so yeah probably got a little excited
with razor but I thought I'd acknowledge
the whole crowd and at least I know that
I would have got them to some degree
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
foreign
three days later Australia had won the
game
when it was over we saw Ed in the
changing rooms awesome
Ed Cowan was now a test cricketer and
the struggle had been worth it
watching Ed's success it was easy to
forget we had come to Australia to
investigate whether test cricket was
dying you got my head off fortunately
most of cricket were on hand to bring us
back to Earth
am I looking at you Samuel yeah one two
three four I'm ready what are you asking
me I've forgotten
this isn't supposed to be serious is it
what I think test Cricket is dare I say
it extremely vulnerable at the moment do
you care for the future of Tesco I do
fear I fear for the importance and the
relevance of test Cricket there probably
is too much international cricket most
definitely short test series that don't
really mean anything I definitely do see
crowds not coming as they used to before
the world's got faster you know I think
attention spans are shorter how do you
get a 20 year old to come and watch five
days people under 25 are dropping off
cricket and under 15 it's a vacuum it
doesn't exist
as Cricket fans we were used to hearing
this sort of thing
some people had said test cricket was
dead the day it was born
that no one in Victorian England had
time for a game that took days
but 140 years later it was still going
and at the same time Cricket had
constantly reinvented itself
the game's modern hinge Point had come
in 2003.
[Music]
when Cricket had invented the latest
shorter sexier format of the sport 2020
condensed a five-day game into three
hours and if test Cricket demanded
patience and concentration 2020 was full
of big hits and instant entertainment
the public couldn't get enough and 2020
was now played in leagues around the
world
Chief among them the Indian Premier
League Cricket's new zeitgeist
you see so many flats going right around
the ground and you need a shouting the
name we want to see
okay I'll give him a six whoa
[Applause]
it's a great feeling going going going
gone
beautiful
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seemed like cricket was in the middle of
an ideological war it was test Cricket
versus 2020.
[Music]
hey I'm here foreign
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test match here at the Wacker ground in
Perth you should have seen edcard and
David Warner go to the middle chair they
ran out and in Australia as Ed Cowan's
first test series continued we were
seeing the battle play out for ourselves
whereas Ed's defensive style made him a
traditional test cricketer his opening
partner David Warner had shot to Fame in
2020. Warner was aggressive and exciting
and the crowds and the advertisers loved
him they want to see probably three or
four hundred runs in a day you know it's
probably it is toughest test Cricket you
know you've got to have to play your
shots and
people like to see that and that's
Entertainment
[Music]
it's true
[Music]
I'll tell you what it is it's a huge
spot
[Applause]
foreign
Styles made for a good partnership it
felt like Ed and Warner were competing
for the hearts and minds of the
cricketing public they
[Applause]
[Music]
test Cricket
[Music]
epic really he's gonna be a hero
yeah I think I think we're setting to a
great great combination
it's amazing they're 150 after 23 hours
of water would it be okay
yeah
could you write 1016 please as well one
uh
yeah
combine these ones with these ones oh
you'll never take away chess Cricket
delicious four five six
we didn't get it Warner and Ed both
still wanted to play test cricket and
the game allowed both of them to succeed
and if Warner in 2020 brought new fans
with them was there really a problem
the head of cricket in Australia
believed not at least in his country
in our part of the world tesscreates in
fantastic shape I think we've seen over
the course of the last decade
a real re-emergence of the strength of
test cricket
it would appear on the surface that
there are different and and perhaps even
greater challenges in other parts of the
world
so where and how was test Cricket
struggling
Gideon Hague the most respected Cricket
historian in the world was the perfect
person to give us our first lesson in
the Arcane world of cricket
Administration
could you should you outline for us what
the key problems with Cricket
as you see
the best I've got as as one of the chief
consumers
I I
condense it into
um into into a question which I don't
think administrators have have answered
which is that um does cricket make money
in order to exist or does it exist in
order to make money
and I think that hitherto the first is
applied increasingly the second applies
so test Cricket's problems came back to
one thing
[Music]
satellite television boom had turned
Cricket into a billion dollar sport but
that money came predominantly from the
TV friendly shorter formats
and particularly in the three countries
whose economies and populations combined
to generate huge value television deals
this meant that their national boards
were entrenched at the top of cricket
it's funny you know the end of
colonialism is always meant to beget or
nurture democracy but in fact what we
have is an increasingly oligarchic
Cricket state run by two or three
powerful nations in cahoots with each
other forming alliances as And when they
see fit
it was a different story elsewhere with
the other Seven test-playing Nations
virtually bankrupt
one of these with a team that had first
helped me fall in love with test Cricket
25 years earlier
[Music]
West Indies had been the best team in
the world for a generation until the
mid-1990s but today with a small
population and television audience they
were unable to compete on or off the
pitch with the big three nations
an increasingly typical story among
Cricket's smaller countries for whom
playing test Cricket made little
Financial sense
and cricket's big three were less and
less interested in playing test Cricket
against them
occasionally you might get a two test
matches or three test matches against a
top team
so will that leave you as one of the
teams below so you're gonna oh you're
gonna look at it now you know it's it's
it's it's ridiculous you know now with
Indian English and Australian
administrators organizing more and more
lucrative matches between themselves
West Indies had little option but to
play fewer test matches and more of the
more profitable shorter formats
while we're seeing the rest of the world
as far as the administrators of the game
are concerned don't care about West
Indies cricket you hear a lot of talk
around oh a world cricket won't be
strong until West Indies are strong
I don't think they administrators feel
that at all you know world cricket would
be strong
as long as you have plenty of money
it was clear world cricket was in
serious trouble so who were these
administrators and what were they doing
to our game
well the nature of administrations
actually changed quite a lot as crickets
become more lucrative and more
culturally significant it's attracted
more and more politicos
and they're not particularly interested
in people who are fans of the game
to help us understand why the big three
countries would not support the survival
of test Cricket around the world Gideon
directed us right to the top of the game
have you thought about doing Haroon logo
yeah yeah he'd be good
look he's talkative at the moment
because he's pissed off
um
do you want to turn that off
isn't there I don't know Haroon log out
was the chief executive of Cricket's
governing body the international cricket
Council which distributed over a billion
dollars of TV income equally among the
10 test Nations
but it was easy to see why logat might
be annoyed he was just a servant of the
ICC board made up of Representatives of
the boards of those test Nations
are you frustrated and you can only push
Cricket so far
in a sense that you've got to work with
the members
um is a challenge
um it's frustrating in the sense that we
don't have executive authority to do as
we as we would like it means uh dealing
with each of the respective members is
challenging that we've got to get
together to to make the best decisions
for the game and that's not always easy
main problem was the icc's most powerful
member the board of control for Cricket
in India the BCCI whose potential TV
audience of 1.3 billion made them the
dominant force in Cricket's economy
with Cricket's poorer Nations relying
upon the TV revenues from India touring
their country no one could afford to
disagree with them and behind the scenes
the BCCI rather than logat controlled
the ICC I'm not concerned about the
strength of the pieces here
what concerns me more is about the
weakness of other boards I think
governance is impacted or affected if
you've got weak member boards
now though we had heard that the Indian
board wanted to change the way ICC
revenues were divided so that they got a
larger share of the TV income at the
expense of the smaller countries and
they appear to be blocking logat's
attempts at reform until they got their
way
Logan had announced he was retiring
early but if we'd hoped he would open up
we would be disappointed
what is the reason if you're leaving
your position I think four years is a
long time in this role I feel that I've
contributed in the in the manner that I
feel comfortable with and I think I've
done as best as I can and is perhaps a
good time for someone else to pick up
[Music]
lying if if everyone just goes well you
know I can't see anything on camera but
I can hint at the fact that something
might be wrong it's just like just come
out and say if everyone comes out and
says something maybe some something will
change
[Music]
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but as India lost their third test match
in a row others did start to voice their
fears that the BCCI were no longer
interested in test cricket
it actually means a lot because you know
you're a passionate
and it means it's a case of misplaced
priorities it means you're not taking
test tickets seriously it means 2020
cricket and one day international
cricket is the be all and end all of
Indian cricket my question is to the
Indian cricket board is the Indian
cricket board interested enough in
saying test match cricket is our
priority the actions have told us that
it's not
[Music]
the Indians seem to be besotted on 2020
Cricket in the IPL so the current
administrators have got a a huge
obligation now to see to it the cricket
a test Cricket in particular maintains
its status
whoever one should say anything they're
most welcome to say it be my guest
if India is powerful at the moment so be
it you know the others have to live with
it
it was clear that we were no longer
making a film about test cricket
test cricket was just a small part of
the battle for control of the whole game
and there was no way Cricket could deal
with any of its competing interests
without proper governance
everybody
cows at the feet of the Financial Muscle
held by India
India who have every right to run the
game they want to run the game and why
shouldn't they Run the game if they
generate
the greatest interest and income are not
prepared to be held responsible or
accountable
and so this extraordinary Circle
of
uncertainty and lack of pastoral care
continues
[Music]
there was one final test to play
and India would lose again
[Music]
Ed Cowan had had the summer of his life
and for all the problems we were seeing
he was a reminder of the simple dreams
the sport was built on
[Music]
he's almost a farewell
[Music]
what do you want to know
want you to tell me that you feel tired
emotionally drained but uh very deep
sense of satisfaction
it's 10 times 50 times better than what
you could ever imagine
[Music]
it's it does feel like the start of
something
[Music]
one of the great characters of Edward
which you can get what to the whole
thing is he plays Cricket for a team
he's always played Cricket for a team
he's been taught to think like that
you don't be famous you pray because you
want to win the game
team wins not you
[Music]
as we left Australia we were worried for
the future of cricket and that if test
Cricket died these values died too
trampled in the pursuit of money and
power
[Music]
the laws which govern the game 100 years
ago were in a very crude State I mean so
this is this is a piece written in 1887
about 1787.
but back in London came the bombshell
Cricket needed
as a final Act harun lawget had
commissioned the English judge Lord
Wolff to assess ICC governance
I was asked by the international cricket
Council to have a look at their
governance because although I'm
certainly not an expert cricketer
I do know about governments
with regard to the conduct of the
players
in the field there were rules in place
to ensure that they behaved in
appropriate manner
but what applied on the field of players
didn't apply in the boardroom
they weren't governed by any ethics as
far as I could see
and decisions were being made with
regard to large sums of money
which didn't have in
place the sort of protections which
would normally exist in your local club
or you would expect to exist in your
local Club
Wolf's report called for independent
governance to sort out an organization
fundamentally unbalanced by the
self-interest of its richest members and
lacking basic accountability and
transparency
it warned that Cricket faced dire
consequences if this advice was ignored
surely the game had to listen
so we went to see Giles Clark the
chairman of English cricket and
England's representative on the ICC
board to ask him what he thought
Lord wolf said in his report I quote
Cricket's a great game deserves to have
governance including management and
ethics worthy of the sport this is not
the position at the present time
do you agree with it no
I don't
okay he also said currently the ICC
reacts as though it's primarily a
members Club it's interesting enhancing
the global development of the game's
secondary
the question is what is the ICC
and Lord Wolff in my judgment is yet to
fully understand what the ICC is he's
entitled to his view I'm entitled to my
view and as I've indicated I don't think
it should be a members Club I think it
should be run for the benefit of cricket
as a whole rather than the interests of
individual members
I've heard more nonsense described to me
as bit something is that it's in the
greater interests of cricket what is the
greater interest of cricket
because I'm very clear on what crickets
needs in this building and in this
country are
what is in the interest of cricket is
that support surely it provides an
exciting and dramatic spectacle at
International level where the contests
are seen as being fair
together
Clark's background was running Pet Shops
and a wine business and here he was
telling us that a former law chief
justice knew nothing about governance
the BCCI rejected Wolf's report too
it seemed crazy but no one was surprised
the wolf report was calling for turkeys
to start working voting for Christmas he
was saying that that the people who run
Cricket are too powerful they should
give their power away it's a turkeys and
Christmas scenario they're certainly not
going to vote themselves out of power do
you think we'll ever have an independent
ICC
uh before or after Hill freezes over
[Music]
foreign
[Music]
we had to find out why men who appeared
to have the best interests of cricket at
heart were being ignored so we went in
search of the people who were really
running the game
[Music]
our next stop was India a chance to see
for ourselves the country whose so many
in the west were blaming for all of
Cricket's troubles
this was a country the British once
ruled where Cricket had been used to
spread the colonial ideal
[Music]
things were very different now Modern
India was like 1920s America on speed on
a fast track to modernity as
infrastructure and Society struggled to
keep up
the one thing that United this land of
vast extremes was cricket
and so it made sense that in three years
the IPL had become a multi-billion
dollar brand in the process cementing
India's status as Cricket's richest
Force
[Applause]
in India they say that three things sell
Cricket religion and Bollywood and
suddenly you have this mixture of
cricket and Bollywood coming together
and the cocktail is so powerful it is
maybe its Mega entertainment for the an
average Indian
[Music]
it was our first time seeing it in the
flesh and it was unlike any Cricket we'd
ever seen before it was incredible
[Applause]
the IPL had been forced into being by
one man one ego the aspiring Indian
administrator lalit Modi
[Music]
foreign
was incredible
I don't think anybody could have done
managed to do what he did Modi was a
Maverick with a checkered past who found
his niche in cricket after spells in
television and marketing in 2020 he saw
the perfect opportunity to monetize the
Indian market he gets stuff done the man
is a genius at what he does do you think
it's fair to say you don't need any more
introductions you're such a celebrity
now no I'm not a celebrity I saw a very
keen businessman though I'm told he
comes from a history of failed
businesses but I mean everyone talks at
the other side which I didn't see so I
don't know if it exists probably does
[Music]
I think this is a godsend and I think
this is the best thing that's ever
happened to Indian cricket
IPL doesn't compete with test Cricket it
can be Bollywood
and it's mobilized a whole lot of people
who previously had never been pretty
so how can that possibly be bad for
Cricket
well there was one problem
modi's model changed to not-for-profit
sport into a commercial free-for-all
10 40 am and the auction bars the IPL
generated huge amounts of money for the
BCCI
it was contested by privately owned
franchises sold to Mega Rich celebrity
owners who spent huge sums of money on
signing the best players from all around
the world
Kevin Peterson there's a lot of players
out there can thank Modi for making them
very very wealthy people one million
Cricket had never seen sums like this
before
you're playing international cricket and
you say oh okay I'm getting a thousand
U.S for our International one day game
and then when I look you see you're
playing a teacher in the game and you're
like
eight hundred thousand
that can't be real
so ion Morgan the English if you look at
football all those guys have been paid
these big huge business and the cricket
change into a big big business
the problem was the two-month IPL season
went up directly against international
cricket and with none of the smaller
countries able to match IPL wages
players were forced to choose between
playing for their country or earning
vast sums of money anywhere else at the
end of the day you um you only play this
game for a short while so you've got to
maximize your opportunities it's
relative you have been branded as that
set of players going off going off to
the money and so forth but you know
listening you have to face reality in
life
and while we were in India this reality
was being born out on the other side of
the world
our friend Ed Karen was playing for
Australia against the West Indies side
missing Gail and several of its other
best players because they were in India
at the ipl's arrival with Ed Cowan
brought stability to the innings Cowan
made his 50.
you're not turning them up in the
country but just presenter a perfect
opportunity
deep down inside I know I've
accomplished some tough things in test
cricket
seeing how much money India were making
many other countries had started their
own 2020 leagues further reducing the
opportunities for international and test
cricket
back in London we'd spoken to Tim May
the players representative at the ICC
we know the players will go to where the
money is
so if international cricket really wants
to survive and along with a test Cricket
it needs to coexist with these let's say
more fast growing more affluent leagues
such as the IPL not conflict
otherwise international cricket
won't be much of a a platform for the
sport anymore it won't be the best
against the best and that's what
international cricket should be
[Music]
with no one balancing the demands of
2020 and test Cricket the future looked
Bleak as we'd seen for ourselves the
previous month in Sri Lanka you're
watching the Chuck Fleetwood Smith today
I saw a silly short forward point and I
liked it close on day four in Colombo
good old-fashioned test cricket
Sri Lanka was a cricket mad country
where few locals went to test matches
the board was 45 million dollars in debt
and riddled with politics and conflicts
of interest we were there watching a
test series shortened to nothing so
players could go to the IPL
while everyone around us insisted test
Cricket remained the Pinnacle of the
game
this was a system that existed for three
countries with everyone else kept on
life support for convenience and as far
as we could see things were only going
to get worse
fortunately Charles Clark was on hand to
tell us why we'd got it all wrong
I think what you're doing respect
earlier stage in your journalistic group
and you haven't seen how things were in
these parts of the world cricket is the
national sport career will continue is
there no complacent to think that
Cricket will continue when the crap when
the Sri Lankan attendances of these
games now it's not remotely complacent
this game I I could give you the sort of
nonsense your spouting come straight out
of wisdom 1909
straight from the editor's notes it's
almost verbatim
the future of cricket is a dire problem
it's a hundred and three years ago
but whatever Giles said to us no one was
immune the IPL cut across the English
season two and back in 2008 Under
Pressure to match IPL wages to keep his
best players happy England's
entrepreneurial chairman saw an
opportunity to prove he could do things
without India
Texan billionaire Alan Stanford arrived
at Lords with a suitcase of money to
make English Cricket an offer they
couldn't refuse
one night one game winner take all 20
U.S million dollars so let me get this
right if you win one million dollars per
player if you lose nothing absolutely
nothing I hated the concept it wouldn't
take all that was what really got me
and that that is it's not Cricket it
might be a silly old saying but you do
not play cricket for winner take all
that is not what the fundamental of
cricket is about it's not the spirit of
the game the old ways don't work anymore
you've got to change you've got to move
into the 21st century you've got to
think Entertainment Sports is
entertainment pure and simple
[Music]
expected
finger fell to Pieces they got
slaughtered by the Stamford Superstars
or All-Stars or whatever they're called
lost by 10 wickets and actually probably
the right guy's got the money in the end
the guys were less well off
it then turned out that Stamford was at
the top of a great big whacking Ponzi
scheme
and they've been taking money off a lot
of people and ended up in prison
and so that that didn't work out too
well for the ECB
will you ever shake the the island
Stamford foreign
the
it is a matter which had horrific
consequences for West Indies major
funder of Western District let's not
forget
and for lots of people in the West
Indies
but
for us
it's history
what were the circumstances that made
you think that Stanford was a was a good
idea
I don't talk about Stanford this
interview wasn't a bad stuff well it's
what the interview is about it's about
the decisions people make you must
understand that Stanford might appear no
we're not if
he uses about test Cricket I've got to
talk about test cricket
okay well it's it's uh I went harp on
about it but it is it is about the
decisions that administrators make in
order to to finally test Cricket as well
in order to promote again surely you see
that that is part of it
next question
okay
somehow Charles Clark survived but now
his efforts to go It Alone had failed so
spectacularly he had little option but
to try and align himself with India
whether something's healthy or unhealthy
you're dealing with reality
without the Indians being willing to
play so much away from India
the situation for a lot of the boards
would be very serious indeed
[Music]
back at the IPL reality was inescapable
whatever the merits of test Cricket it
was 2020 that was driving the bcci's
wealth and power
Ade is very boring because of the
articles
[Music]
the day is not far when I think
franchisee Cricket might take over
nobody has forced it down anybody's
gullet it's what the people want is what
the reality is
[Applause]
but I am no one to say that test Cricket
must be preserved at all costs
eventually it will be the people who
decide
Aruna was right the people should decide
our fear was that they wouldn't have the
opportunity
if money was the be-all and end-all test
cricket was doomed but were those
running Indian cricket really so
intoxicated on their Newfound wealth
that they had lost sight of what had
helped Cricket last so long in the first
place
[Music]
2020 had not yet passed the test of time
and if this was the future our nagging
question was was it Cricket or even
sport
[Applause]
[Music]
cynically constructed magnificently
executed but entertainment nonetheless
[Music]
[Applause]
as well sport endures entertainment
shows get canceled
I could be watching Major League
Baseball I could be watching like you
know European Champions League football
this is just smart I think it's just
about I mean big is more about like the
sportsmanship the stuff that comes along
with the game more than the game itself
right Jessica seems to embody that more
than
[Music]
maybe it doesn't have those kind of
intricacies that test Cricket had that
it's endured almost 200 years
so I fear that this might cannibalize on
test cricket and then fade away on its
own that's the major problem
[Music]
if Lal was right it wasn't just test
Cricket but the whole sport that was
under threat
but before we could reach any
conclusions about Cricket's future
we had to understand the motivations of
the BCCI
there comes time when money ceases to be
important
and unless the BCCI is able to be more
socially responsible and and play a role
whereby Cricket can go forward I think
world trigger is entering a phase and
Indian cricket is entering a phase which
is going to be seriously problematic I
think this is here is right now a
reflection of uh
the India the nation in the sense that
there is uh there is the sense of
grievance which they have nursed over
years and suddenly they have found a
voice
there's a feeling that you know we can
we can't do any wrong
we had begun to hear rumors that the
BCCI were now threatening to abandon
world cricket to keep their vast
television revenues for themselves
Indian cricket administrators suspect
strongly that India is not getting the
full benefit of the profit that the
Indian game generates
then it might be better if India's just
sort of went it alone
if you like that the IPL was just the
the warning shots
if that means bad news for test match
cricket or international cricket in the
end it won't mind that too much
all roads now led us to one man the
president of the BCCI and the most
powerful man in world cricket the cement
magnet entering of acid
everyone we'd spoken to had told us we'd
never get to him
but it turned out that the Man known as
the inscrutable leader of an
impenetrable Empire
answered his mobile phone like everyone
else we were hoping it was really about
the the way that you know the future of
test cricket
it would be a video interview if that's
okay it would be a for a film
well that's very kind Mr srinivasan I
will be in touch and let you know how we
go thank you very much okay all the best
bunch
that was weird
so he's ready to just pick we found out
that that's actually like teaser
University
in Chennai
so when what do we do now do we go to do
we go to so it's going to be is in
Chennai okay flights Chennai flights
generally
was the man responsible for the game
that was everything to over a billion
Indians what you see out there in the 22
yards is just not Indian cricket Indian
cricket is also played by the real
political parties in India it's it's as
political as it can be
that's how important Indian you know the
president of the BCCI is he's one of the
biggest celebrities in the country all
of these things taken together Indian
cricket is very serious it's very very
serious
tell me that doesn't look like
now we had an audience with him Our
intention was to confront him with the
bcci's responsibility to the global game
what do you think of perception of BCCI
is
well
I think the BCCI
is a very well-meaning organization
and I could be unhappy or not to know
good we have no interest to
to bring down you know to hurt Cricket
in any way that that is a incorrect
IPL doesn't mean we have lost focus on
uh
test cricket
we
believe in test cricket
when we turn to asking him about the
effect of the IPL on world cricket we
began to see that inscrutability for
ourselves the IPL has not really
affected that many players you know I
think that that to say that this is the
reason
why test Cricket is you know the you
know players are not playing test
Cricket that that I don't accept
that's why the wolf report is concerned
I think first and foremost it starts out
to say ICC should own the game I don't
agree
[Music]
and then now you want to say that the
person who provides you the money should
not have an automatic right to sit on
the board
how much did the ICC is politics we're
all equal when we sit at the table there
we may have differing points of view we
may have different points of view on it
on some issues but
that doesn't mean there's politics in it
no
that I won't accept
we left with a warning to make sure our
film was fair and balanced to those who
were merely Servants of the game
shrinivasana had proved as evasive as
we've been warned and we never got to
the bottom of what was driving the BCCI
or srinivasan himself
they don't own the game
he was clearly doing it with an agenda
and I failed that too
we don't need administrators we need
people with vision and and guts and
determination
because srinivasan's position at the
head of the BCCI contained a serious
conflict of interest
a company called India cements
yet he's also the secretary sorry now
president of the board and he runs an
IPL team isn't that a conflict of
interest and they change the rules they
actually change the Constitution so that
Mr srinivasan could actually buy a
franchise
in 2008 srinivasan's company India
cements limited had purchased one of the
eight original IPL franchises the
Chennai Super Kings
I see these it meant that the man who
could decide the future of test Cricket
stood to benefit financially from the
tournament that threatened it the most
so was srinivasan's personal interests
influencing BCCI decisions we had to
speak to the one man who knew him better
than anyone his former Ally lalit Modi
by 2010 The Cult of Modi had become too
big for srinivasan to ignore
the BCCI used him when he was at his
best he was the marketing Czar who could
do no wrong and then once he became too
big for his for his boots perhaps he was
becoming the face of IPL it was a
tournament synonymous with lalit Modi
and not the BCCI the BCCI pushed him
aside after the IPL final which then I
beat Mumbai at 1am last night the BCCI
then emailed a 34-page chart sheet
against lalit Modi listing 22 charges
even propriety ranging from Financial
irregularities to rigging bins
thank you
do you think that the IPL would have
existed without develop mode
I think the IPL has gone from has grown
and is better
and there is no controversy now
so you're saying he was he was the
reason that there was controversy before
I don't want to you know
I don't want to give importance to lalit
Modi and talk about it
claiming to have received threats to his
life Modi had fled the country for
London
as the world he'd helped to build
carried on without him
[Music]
[Applause]
so now we headed back to London too in
search of the man we hoped would shed
some light on what shrinivasan was up to
I love the IPL but I created it and
nobody can take that away from me
there are many allegations against me
and um and not not single one proof two
years down the line I'm fighting it and
I'm and I'm convinced that it's all
political and and we'll fight it going
forward and Mr srinivas said the better
instead of talking about srinivasan what
Modi wants to tell us about was how he
was the potential savior of test cricket
the the players who play test cricketer
are the ultimate players of cricket
T20 should be there to supplement it and
to subsidize it to a certain extent and
but to bring the gift Vans back into the
game so this seemed a remarkable
turnaround from the creator of the IPL
but we couldn't ignore a man who had
proved he could make money and expand
Cricket's fan base we as Cricket
administrators
our job is to promote the game and build
the fan base and this is what people
forget our job is not only to get the
money money will come
if you can keep the fans so the key and
the fundamental issue is don't lose your
focus on the fan
always have the fan at the center of
anything that you do
at the end of the day you've got to find
ways and means to to enhance the game
and the politics should play a secondary
role
the problem for world cricket and its
fans is the politics does play a role
there were 105 countries who played
Cricket but only 10 were allowed to play
test cricket and they awarded themselves
three quarters of ICC revenues
meaning the others including several of
the biggest economies in the world were
starved of the opportunity for
development
mypd cricket league plays a modified
version of the sport called 2020 which
is 20 overs per side and more popular in
the United States
China for example only received thirty
thousand dollars annually to grow the
game in a country of 1.4 billion people
there was though a potential answer to
this problem using 2020 to take Cricket
to the Olympics
what the Chinese government told me was
that once it becomes an Olympic sport
then the amount of funding we get from
our government is going to be so large
that we you know we will pay for
everything but just get us to a stage
where it becomes an Olympic sport
Olympic status would see the Chinese
government pledge up to 20 million US
dollars a year to the development of
cricket
you reach out to China you reach out to
over a billion people even if out of
those 1 billion people 10 play cricket
it's a hundred million people that's
what it's about
and that's what should be the role of
sport is to bring pleasure to hundreds
of people thousands in this case
millions of people
China are just one of many countries who
would benefit from Cricket's Olympic
inclusion so what did the ICC think
about Cricket in the Olympics
what do you think of cricket in the
Olympics
uh
I think it's a tournament for too far
the Olympics takes place during the
English season it's impossible for us to
set aside time fret it would have an
enormous economic impact on the game in
this country it's a non-starter but you
could see how it could appear to be an
example of a board person its own
thoughts first rather than
the game as a whole in terms of you're
talking about growing I have every right
to put my board's interest first
[Music]
the sport we love was shrinking before
our eyes
[Music]
how many sports in the world are
actually Contracting are actually trying
to diminish the number of
countries that play at its top level
that just seems to be cutting off your
nose despite your face
[Music]
and as nobody seemed interested in doing
anything to help Cricket it was time for
drastic action
you know in terms of getting the
Whistleblower and stuff like that is
that something you'd be prepared to talk
about
I quit the Chuck Fleetwood Smiths to
finish the film and get it out there
this was taking over my life
Jared remained on the inside with his
ear to the ground for development
it's not about Cricket it's about life
and it's about things that people love
most frigate fans have no idea that
their game is basically being strangled
by the three major Nations
then things started to get strange for
both of us we'd released a trailer to
raise money featuring a picture of
Charles Clark and Alan Stanford and it
seemed it hadn't gone unnoticed as
Jared's press pass was mysteriously
withheld at a meeting at Charles Clark's
office Jared's boss was asked to explain
what we were doing with this film
Clark also wrongly alleged that Jared
had racially abused an ICC employee
all we'd wanted to do was make a film
about test Cricket now we'd wandered
into a 70s paranoia movie where our
careers and reputations were at stake
[Music]
an ex-member of the ICC told us we'd be
making things worse for ourselves if we
carried on
as interviews we had been promised were
withdrawn
others scared about repercussions
wouldn't come on camera
things were getting murkier by the day
for the first time in my life Cricket no
longer felt like a game
it exists mainly for the interests of
broadcasters
advertisers
entrepreneurial administrators
elite players corporate investors and
sponsors and the fan the fan where he's
considered at all is there to be
monetized and to be exploited
[Music]
but just as we were losing faith came a
reminder of what we were fighting for
foreign
chain so we're now two men out on the
boundary
there's the back foot again and wow
[Applause]
cut nicely he's looking good
and he's really putting in at the moment
there's another beautiful backward card
because they need a couple of
individuals to stand out but it just
might be in counties
look at it
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
going through a counter
[Music]
[Applause]
boys and hours the hard yards training
sessions the net practices that coaches
the advice thought
the thought decision to go to Tasmania
and then finally the realization of that
dream
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
a great moment
[Music]
back in London as a new year dawned we
had a breakthrough of Our Own
as one of the sources we'd been chasing
finally agreed to talk to us
[Music]
David Becker had been head of legal
Affairs at the ICC and a key Ally of
Haroon lawget but had quit his post in
2012 disillusioned at how cricket was
being run he wasn't Keen to go on the
record yet but finally this was a
credible Source giving legitimacy to all
the rumors we'd heard about how
srinivasan and his lackeys were
controlling world cricket
now we weren't alone
and in search of an ending to our
investigation off we went again this
time to the new home of cricket Dubai
[Music]
ten years previously in an apparent show
of democratization and modernity the ICC
had moved from Lords to Dubai
with tax saving opportunities finally
forcing a break from its Colonial womb
now their headquarters stood in Dubai
sports city a half-built monument to an
Era of global excess this was where the
most powerful men in cricket met to
decide the future of the game and we
were here to see it for ourselves
but we had to find them first that
actually doesn't look unlike it all
right well there's ICC on it so that
should narrow it down that one over
there because no one knew where these
meetings happened or what was said there
was no press conference No Agenda no
published minutes to explain decisions
worth billions of dollars that affected
billions of people
and as David Becker explained later
India with the help of England and
Australia were regularly manipulating
votes at the ICC board table
a set of legal I was responsible for
overseeing all the legal aspects of
international cricket
2012 became obvious that
decisions amongst the key Powers
particularly the big three were being
made in the corridors and being
presented to the ICC board
he became aware that there was a pattern
emerging
these proposals which ostensibly in the
best interest of the game were being
rejected
it didn't occurred to me that either I
try and Implement from the inside some
of these changes that emanated from the
wolf report or I leave the organization
and I chose the latter
[Music]
back on the trail of the meeting we got
a tip off
yeah it looks like he's saying at the
Marriott there is a few Marriotts do you
know if there's an international cricket
meeting at your hotel
it is excellent
[Music]
in the best traditions of investigative
journalism we found ourselves a fake
shake and headed on in I thought it
looked quite cool
we knew we wouldn't be welcome but we
had to pierce this ridiculous secrecy
and ask srinivasan and Clark one
question why was cricket shrinking on
their watch
[Music]
send helmet out into the roofing
if you if you go out onto the roof mate
unfortunately our Shake hadn't charged
his camera battery
but soon the main men started arriving
Peter gingoka head of cricket in
Zimbabwe and right-hand man to Robert
Mugabe then a familiar face arrived
Charles hello
foreign
[Music]
we waited all day for the closest we got
to answers was a press officer we just
we just want to ask one question we've
been investigating this film for two
years everything comes back to this
meeting we have one question which just
comes down so it comes down to
transparency and accountability Sammy
this isn't heads of state this is
Cricket
I'm sorry if we are doing this I will be
very very unhappy can you can you sure
so no
when it was over we felt like we'd blown
it
we'd come all this way and got nothing
but even we couldn't have imagined what
was really going on behind the scenes
that day
[Music]
it wouldn't be long before we found out
that things were far worse than we had
ever suspected
first one of srinivasan's opponents and
a vocal supporter of the wolf report
players representative Tim May was swept
aside from his position at the ICC as
the BCCI pressurized national boards to
get their candidate elected in his place
um we're aware of the fact that the
captains have come under pressure not to
vote for somewhere there was this
pressure put on them that if they didn't
vote for that particular candidate that
tours would be taken away or India would
not tour those particular countries so
when they were told that who are they
being told that by and they've been told
by their boards by their individual
boards who obviously were filling the
pressure from BCCI
maze replacement laxman sivarama
Krishnan was from India a country that
didn't recognize player unions
this is just exactly how qriket runs and
the major decisions being made at the
ICC have been made just the outcomes are
a function of threatened intimidation
severama Krishnan just happened to hold
an interesting link to srinivasana
Christian is an employee of India
so
if someone comes and says oh that is a
direct connection between Mr srinivasa
and shivarama Krishna
yes
but crickets neither the Long Knives was
not over yet
next in srinivasan sites was Haroon
lorgat who was back in cricket as chief
executive of cricket South Africa the
BCCI were quick to make their
disapproval known I believe I've done
everything I possibly could
but we we shouldn't be naive about the
influence that people have
as far as we have differed on issues
several times
but there's nothing personal
to punish South Africa for a pointing
logout the BCCI threatened to hit them
where it hurt their TV revenues
in a development bordering on the Absurd
the BCCI has reportedly threatened to
pull out of the tour to South Africa
later this year
eventually India settled for a shortened
tour costing South African Cricket tens
of millions of dollars
the ICC and the rest of cricket just
stood and watched
to David Becker the ICC were ignoring a
binding agreement to the tour I was
quite astounded by this
any company that passes a board
resolution
is required to act in accordance with
that board resolution and enforce it
otherwise it acts
contrary to principles of corporate law
it acts illegally
at this point Becca released a public
statement putting his career on the line
for his principles I felt it was really
important to come out
particularly at that juncture
if an organization was not prepared to
uphold and enforce its own resolutions
it was a significant issue for the game
of cricket
there's no doubt that those within the
game are very frightened about speaking
out
he's a very powerful people who run
cricket
the message to the rest of cricket was
clear
don't cross end srinivasan
[Music]
but not everyone was intimidated
[Music]
I just had a chat with Alec mode he
seems to have a big allowing us to spend
some time with him observing him he he
is um
I just I don't know what to make of him
yet I think I think Larry could hold the
key to the whole film basically because
he is the one guy he knows every he
knows where the bodies are buried
whether we trusted Modi or not he was
our best chance of finding the one piece
of evidence that could reign in
srinivasan and bring proper accountable
governance to the ICC
B somebody emailed me I don't want to
ask him where he got it from I have an
open invitation on Twitter Modi showed
us emails he claimed were one example of
how India England and Australia were
colluding to control the ICC board
it's basically three or four people
and how they manipulated over the years
their plan of fixing the ICC uh
um
have their own personal domain and how
they have encroached upon good
governance
um and but but distribute to the game
and it's important to expose that
but even lalit Modi didn't seem to have
the Silver Bullet that Cricket needed
maybe his reforming Zeal was encouraged
by the Troubles of his Nemesis back in
India
is srinivasan's IPL team the Chennai
Super Kings became embroiled in a match
fixing Scandal that led right back to
srinivasan's Door the Mumbai police is
likely to question
upon who's the son-in-law of Chennai
Super King's owner and srinivasan
srinivasan son-in-law in charge of
running the Chennai Super Kings was
Court placing illegal bets and tipping
off bookies about team selection
suddenly srinivasan's Empire appeared to
be crumbling I have done nothing wrong I
have no intent intended to resign I mean
right there is a degree of morality no
question
Mr srinivasan and gurunath mayapan are
implicated in the in the whole Saga Mr
srinivasan not directly but being BCCI
president and being the father in law of
Guru may happen should have stepped down
and Guru not mayapan by having vetted
has brought the game of cricket into
disrepute there is no two ways about it
foreign
[Music]
first to put the boot in was of course
lalit Modi
[Music]
what in the IP a lot of the ICC as a
matter of fact without the stamp of Mr
srinivasan what I created can't be taken
away yes I am responsible partly for
children price Mr Modi how much of
responsibility would you yourself take
tonight
I take full responsibility for the fact
that
um that I created a monster
[Music]
Cricket is going through
a turmoil
and turmoil not because of the product
but because of the administration
do you know what the Quantum of betting
is today
two billion of the game
now when you talk about two billion
dollars a game you're talking about a
whole new economy
for the first time
we are seeing family members of cricket
administrators in Poland
betting
and match fixings
we don't know where it stops
what is the biggest Taboo in the
corporate world it's insider trading in
inside a training business you're
playing with money
and greed and it's to do with adults
in the case of sport
it reaches down to our children
it reaches down to everybody and it's to
do with the emotions
[Music]
it is going to destroy the game
and all forms of the games
Modi was screaming from every media
platform available but no one was
listening
somehow srinivasan clung on to power in
those months that followed how was a
mystery to us at least until we took a
step back and had a look at the world he
had created for himself
everywhere you look in cricket there is
an India cements employee
or someone who owes something to
srinivasan the current captain of India
Ms dhoni is also a vice president of
India cements the captain of Chennai
Super Kings I mean where does this whole
thing stop it's not so much that he's
running the game he's become the Alpha
and the Omega of the game he's the very
center of it you can't dig him out
because he is crooked at this point he
he's at this stage any committee to get
rid of him he'd be on the only people
who could stand up to him and try and
get rid of him have got too much to lose
if it goes wrong
which makes you question what their
motivations are yeah you can't be
involved with training bathroom at this
point and not be tainted with that brush
I mean everyone knows what he's doing
it's now out in the urban there there's
been newspaper articles there's been
supreme Court trials have been
everything that you need to know that
there is something going wrong and that
he's not running qriket correctly what
we're talking about is businessmen
willing to do absolutely anything to
keep hold of unpaid positions running a
not-for-profit sport
it doesn't make sense he's actually
making money out of the Chennai Super
Kings and then on top of this you've got
money being made from an illegal Cricket
stream that links directly back to him
so what is actually happening is is this
on page or is there an actual reason why
he's so desperate to keep his power and
he and he just wants it so bad why do
why are these men so desperate for this
power of cricket what are they getting
out of it but we're not understanding
[Music]
but just as we were trying to work it
all out suddenly we got the answer we'd
been dreading we were too late to stop
srinivasan
the BCCI has given a green signal to a
proposal that will give three countries
that's India Australia and England more
power and more money while the BCCI
claims that this move is for the
betterment of the game it could just end
up destroying world cricket as we know
it in January 2014 it emerged that the
boards of India England and Australia
had been working in secret for over a
year on a series of dramatic reforms for
world cricket these were fundamental
changes to Cricket's governance they
just happened to be the exact opposite
of what Lord Wolff had recommended
meaning the BCCI and ancient nivasan
will take Central leadership of all
International cricketing affairs
the draft also proposes a new financial
model with the big three set to have the
Lion's Share India England and Australia
had awarded themselves over 50 percent
of ITC revenues this money would come
from funds previously allocated to the
smaller test Nations and the development
of the game have you seen the dhoni
email about this entry navasana would
become the new chairman of the ICC and
effectively head Cricket's
anti-corruption unit when several of the
poorer boards objected the BCCI made it
clear that if agreement was not reached
India would walk away from international
cricket now the proposals appeared set
to be forced through in Dubai
this time at least there would be a
press conference
we had one final trip to make
[Music]
I'm very disappointed I would hope that
Cricket would not have adopted the
attitude that it has to putting his
house in order
England Australia
and India say trust us
it's a power grab and a money grab and
that's all it is
I think Mr Putin would be very proud of
them
[Music]
it's like they want to be superpowers of
the world
if it is agreed Cricket will only be
played subcontinent and nowhere else
[Music]
Mr srinivasa will stab them
foreign
if you dine with the Devil
said you should use a long Fork
[Music]
[Music]
the vote would be a formality
[Music]
the Takeover of the game wasn't in the
shadows anymore it was part of Cricket's
new constitution
and it went against everything the
gentleman's game was supposed to stand
for
[Music]
we had started this film to see if test
Cricket had a future and instead
discovered a sporting scandal
a global game and the billions of
dollars it generated was being hijacked
by three countries
who without transparency or
accountability were putting their own
interests ahead of the dreams of a
hundred others at the expense of a
billion fans around the world
[Music]
without proper governance Cricket as we
knew it had no long-term future
but we felt that the many people who
lived breathed and funded it deserved
better
and as we sat there in Dubai and watched
it all unfold with the culprits nowhere
to be seen we realized that while our
questions may have made no difference at
least we had recorded the whole story so
that all those other fans could see for
themselves how the very men charged with
Cricket survival seemed hell-bent on its
destruction
to to be truthful had much Authority
[Music]
[Music]
thank you
when we first came into camp for the
ashes series
it felt like the Apex of of months of
work
the biggest moment of your career in
Ash's tour away from home
felt like everything had had gone to
plan
and that was the moment
but a change of coach
there was a different feeling around of
you're under pressure you're playing for
your spot
I was batting at a net with David Warner
which clearly was a bat off and I
probably had the greatest net session
I've ever had
it just felt like everything was coming
together it was flying well head was in
a really nice spot
[Music]
oh just come out so it's another
left-hander so two left-handers at the
crease
averages 32 31 years old
listen to the crowd now
Finn
from The Pavilion I saw the ball
and
what I thought was a full toss you know
just hit hit a full task when they put
it in hand runs in a bowls to Cowan he
drives and his caught himself
first ball and listen to that noise
and you sort of look behind what have I
done
[Applause]
oh he's caught it I want a remarkable
day I have to go there what do you mean
has Carmen chased it's a horrible shot
I'm afraid for a number three batsman
he'll hate looking at that again why did
he play that nerves pressure goodness
knows what that was a poor shot and I
was just about to say that
[Music]
and then the chargeback goes over this
can't be happening this is an absolute
nightmare
I was just so angry angry that I let
myself down
angry that I let the team down
[Music]
foreign
test matches do things that strip a man
to the Bone
they they bear your soul they
if you're if you're below standard in
test cricket
you're exposed
as in no other sport
do you feel that the Australian public
have judged you now
ah interesting question yeah they
probably have
what do you think they think of not good
enough
good Aussie Butler style trigger but not
good enough
[Music]
I can't see a lot of purpose to Cricket
without test matches just as I can't see
a lot of purpose to literature if it's
if it's only Haiku uh it's
it exists you know T20 needs something
to be shorter than
um you know it it
there's something about the Epic scope
of test Cricket that you would not
create now that is kind of unique to it
that can never be built again and once
it's lost it can never be replaced
and
we will feel its absence when it's gone
[Music]
the ICC is like a large family
and humbled by this opportunity to
provide leadership to the ICC
to provide I think a more financially
stable
financial position to
full members Associates and Affiliates
and also take steps to take cricket
[Music]
to all parts of the world no one is
going to buy a newspaper or turn on a
television program
to watch a good news story about
Administration in sport
but people aren't interested and why
should they be you know we perform these
roles unpaid
didn't forget
and it's very time consuming because we
love the game we're interested in the
game we care about it
there will be a time and we will see
everything starting to think I told you
so I told you I've warned you so I've
been trying to tell you again and again
and again and I keep hopping about the
same thing again and again because I see
how detrimental it is to the game
because I love the game
not for any other reason
somebody otherwise other than me would
have probably walked away
I have done nothing wrong there is
nothing there is no charge of wrong I
mean I have not done anything wrong for
which
I should feel
that
hesitant to take this position when
there Comes A Time in every man's life
where they need to stand up for the
things they believe in I believe in the
governance of the game I believe in the
Integrity of the game I believe it's
been compromised what matters to us is
that the team are properly written about
the team is what people are interested
in the national team the county teams
that's what people follow
that's what people should be interested
in
we hope that we can bring back
the good gentlemen's game back policy
not only in the playing field but also
in the boardrooms I can't accept
that Cricket has an image problem you
know there may have been some instances
rare instances few and far between
but I think almost all Cricket is very
competitive and very fair hard for us
you hope for for
I hope he enjoys his Cricket does as
well as he can and
[Music]
when it's over it's over
you can
kick and scream and whinge
we can get on
well it could be a lot worse off I'm
very lucky I'm healthy
happily married have a beautiful
daughter
yeah
poured all my energy into playing
cricket
it has felt like I've I've given it
my best shot
[Music]
it's a great leveler
it's pretty true to life you can think
that you're brilliant one moment and
next minute you're out first ball for
naught seems to me to be a bit of a
character builder
[Music]
and I think you're better off for the
hurdles that you get over as a result of
playing our game
[Music]
would you do it again
yeah in a heartbeat
[Music]
when I was a young kid growing up in
school when you know people would ask
what do you want to do when you grow up
and I just said I want to be a test
cricketer it's the only life I've known
you know we react quickly now so that we
you know Safeguard and protect us
cricket
just needs us to support it and work
with it
[Music]
we're quick it is in 20 years it's out
there
because I'm still playing it
is the Players game
and they'll take me out of here in a box
because I think it's the best game in
the world
[Music]
foreign
[Music]
[Music]
foreign
[Music]
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